The Theme for the 2017 Annual Diocesan Appeal is: “Proclaiming God’s Love, Together in Christ.” As stewards of the gifts God has given us, we proclaim in one voice, “God is love” (1 John 4:8). Indeed, the reason Jesus came to live among us is that very same love. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, we continue to walk in God’s love, doing so most clearly as we participate in the work of the Church in caring for one another.

Each year, I write to enlist your support of the Annual Diocesan Appeal. Engaging our diocesan family in a common mission, I invite you, as households and individuals, to continue to share generously the material gifts that you have received from the Lord’s goodness. Your generosity makes it possible for me, through collaboration with the priests, religious and lay ministers of our Diocese, to broaden and deepen our ministry. Our efforts in the New Evangelization propel us to invite, welcome and increase the joy of those who respond to the Lord’s call to be faithful members of our parish communities. For every one of us who celebrates Sunday Mass, there are still many who do not.

Your ADA gift enables us in our Evangelization work and outreach, particularly in the areas of Youth and Young Adult Ministry, Catechesis and Faith Formation, the Hispanic Apostolate, Social Justice Ministry, the Institute for Leadership in Ministry, the Formation and Training of Seminarians and Deacon Candidates, who are our future priests and deacons, and the Ongoing Formation of those already ordained. Only your gift, combined with the gifts of others throughout our Diocese, can make all of this possible. I am relying on you!

I thank you, in advance, for your prayerful consideration of this year’s Appeal and I pledge to you, your families and loved ones remembrance in my daily prayers.